Analyzing Character eBook

Another very large class of misfits, and, perhaps,
even more to be pitied than any other, is composed
of the women who are compelled to earn a living in
the business world, in the professional world, or elsewhere,
whose true place is in the home. Many of these
are unmarried, either because the right man has not
presented himself, or because there are not enough
really desirable men in the community to go around.
Others are widows. Still others are women who
have been deserted by their mates. Some of them
are compelled to support their parents, brothers, and
sisters, or even their husbands.

If traditional methods and courses of education miss
the needs of many of our young men, what shall we
say of conventional education for girls? Well,
to tell the truth, we do not know what to say.
Educational experts, reformers, philosophers, investigators,
and editors have spoken and written volumes on the
subject. Women upon whom the different kinds of
educational formulae have been tried have also written
about it. Some of them have told tragic stories.
There has been, and is, much controversy. Some
say one thing—­some another—­but
what shall common sense say? After all, education
is rather a simple problem—­in its essentials.
It means development—­development of inborn
talents. And education ought especially to develop
the natural aptitude of most of our girls for efficiency
in home-making and child-rearing. Most young
women enter upon the vocation of wifehood and motherhood
practically without any training for these duties.

It is as unscientific to expect all women to be successful
wives and mothers as it would be to expect all men
to be successful farmers. It is as tragic to
expect an untrained girl to be a successful wife and
mother as it would be to expect an untrained boy to
be a successful physician and surgeon.

EXECUTIVES AND DETAIL WORKERS

A very broad division of misfits is into those who
are fitted to do detail work, trying to do executive
work, and those who are natural-born executives compelled
to do detail work. This is a very common cause
of unfitness.

Some men love detail and can do it well. They
naturally see the little things. Their minds
are readily occupied with accuracy in what seem to
others to be trifles, but which, taken together, make
perfection. They are careful; they are dependable;
they can be relied upon. Such people, however,
do not have a ready grasp for large affairs. They
cannot see things in their broader aspect. They
are not qualified by nature to outline plans in general
for other people to work out in detail. They are
the men upon whom the world must depend for the careful
working out of the little things so essential if the
larger plans are to go through successfully.

On the other hand, there are some people who have
no patience with details. They do not like them.
They cannot attend to them. If depended upon
for exactitude and accuracy, they are broken reeds.
They forget detail.